Thoughts on the military and military activities of a diverse nature. Free-ranging and eclectic.

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Gun Boat?

This is coolbert:

That bombardment by the Israeli Defense Forces [IDF] of Hamas targets in Gaza is accomplished primarily if not almost exclusively so by munitions as dropped by F-16?

Primarily but NOT exclusively so? Reports as carried by various media also suggest Israeli warships cruising off the coast of Gaza additionally engage Hamas targets using naval gunfire.

As to those Israeli warships capable of naval gunfire of substantial size only the Sa'ar 4 class vessel still seems to fit the bill?

From the wiki entry the only remaining warships in the Israeli naval arsenal still capable of big-bore naval gunfire directed at land targets is the Sa'ar 4!

"The Sa'ar 4 or Reshef class missile boats were built at the Israel Shipyards and based on Israeli Navy designs grounded in accumulated experience derived in the operation of 'Cherbourg' (Sa'ar 3) class."

"Israel has sold most of the Sa'ar 4 boats to other navies, however, the INS Nitzachon and INS Atzmaut remain in active Israeli Navy service."

Those original Sa'ar 4 described as a missile boat and the armaments predominantly consisting of missiles BUT some Sa'ar 4 also having that organic naval gun of 76 mm size.

That 76 mm naval gun the Otobreda 76 mm?

"The Otobreda 76 mm gun is a naval artillery piece built by the Italian defence conglomerate Otobreda. It is based on the Oto Melara 76mm/L62 Allargato, which was bigger and heavier."

"the Otobreda 76mm Compatto cannon system is compact enough to be installed on relatively small warships, like corvettes, avisos (a vessel somewhere between a corvette and a patrol boat), or patrol boats. The gun's high rate of fire makes it suitable for . . . ground support roles. Specialised ammunition is available for armour piercing, incendiary and directed fragmentation effects"

There is available for the Otobreda 76 mm naval gun a precision-guided-munition [PGM] delivering a round suitable for urban warfare, the minimization of civilian casualties and limiting collateral damage highly desirable?